Elastic composite structure having low-density foam material and reinforcement structure, and anti-collision packing object including the same

ABSTRACT

An anti-collision packing object includes at least one base portion and at least one elastic composite structure that can be connected to the base portion and includes at least one main body and at least one reinforcement structure. The main body can made of a low-density foam material having a density lower than 30 kg/m 3 . The reinforcement structure can be made of a paper material, a plastic material, a softwood material, etc., and can be placed in the main body, so that the structural strength of the low-density foam material is enhanced to allow a higher vertical compressive strength for the elastic composite structure and to provide better cushioning effects and supporting strength.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priority to and the benefit of, under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a), Taiwan Patent Application No. 110107575, filed in Taiwan on Mar. 3, 2021. The entire content of the above identified application is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an elastic composite structure, and more particularly to an elastic composite structure that is collectively formed by arranging reinforcement structures in a low-density foam material, and can be a component of an anti-collision packing object.

BACKGROUND

Generally, products are properly packed for transport or sale. A relatively sophisticated product (e.g., an electronic device such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or router) requires a relatively large amount of packing material in order to be protected to a relatively high level, wherein the packing material typically includes anti-collision packing objects for example. These anti-collision packing objects have an elastic structure so that when the box in which the product is packed is hit, shaken, compressed (e.g., by the weight of another boxed product stacked on the box), or subjected to a change in pressure (e.g., a variation in the atmospheric pressure when the product is shipped by air), the anti-collision packing objects can provide proper cushioning and protection to reduce the chance of product damage, thereby allowing the product to reach its buyer while staying intact.

An existing anti-collision packing object may include a foam material and a paper material and is usually made by coating the surface of the former with the latter. Or, a paper-lined partition or a paper-made accessory box can be used as a cushioning structure. The aforesaid structures are typically used in packing boxes (or cases) where there is no limitation on the cushioning space, i.e., where a relatively large cushioning space can be planned to accommodate a considerable amount of foam material for providing effective protection for the integrity of the packed product. The aforesaid packing arrangements, however, tend to result in huge packing boxes, which may in turn take up excessive storage space, transportation space, or shelf space. The enormous amount of foam material used in such packing boxes also constitutes a wasteful use of resources and causes an increase in packing cost. If fixed-size packing boxes (or cases) must be used to comply with the volume standards of transported goods, there will be limitation on the cushioning space in such a box, and if a low-density foam material (i.e., a foam material with a density lower than 30 kg/m³) is used to form the cushioning foam walls, the walls will be too soft (i.e., have too low supporting strength) to provide effective protection, thus increasing the chance of product damage. In light of this, and in order to provide better cushioning and protection, it is generally desired to use foam material of a higher density, typically higher than 30 kg/m³ and hence the name high-density foam material.

However, high-density foam material is more costly, and also more difficult to obtain, than its low-density counterpart. In Taiwan for example, high-density foam materials are mostly imported, which explains why product packing cost in Taiwan has stayed high and has undoubtedly raised the expenditures of businesses or consumers. One major niche point provided by the present disclosure lies in the provision of an effective solution to the foregoing issues so that packing cost and the volumes of packed products can be reduced while product protection is enhanced.

SUMMARY

In view of the fact that there is still room for improvement for the conventional anti-collision packing objects, as a result of repeated research and tests, the present disclosure provides an elastic composite structure having a low-density foam material and at least one reinforcement structure and an anti-collision packing object including the same, which contribute to a package structure design whose packing cost and volume are reduced while providing sufficient protection.

One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to an elastic composite structure including at least one main body and at least one reinforcement structure. The at least one main body is formed with at least one opening, and made of a low-density foam material having a density lower than 30 kg/m³. The at least one reinforcement structure is made of a material including at least one of a paper material, a plastic material, and a softwood material, can be in a columnar shape or formed as a plate, and can be inserted into the opening to be placed in the main body. Therefore, by the design of the reinforcement structure, the structure of the low-density foam material is reinforced to allow a higher vertical compressive strength for the elastic composite structure and to provide better cushioning effects and supporting strength.

In certain embodiments, the opening is adjacent to a corner of the main body. In certain embodiments, the reinforcement structure is made of corrugated paperboard.

In certain embodiments, the bursting strength of the corrugated paperboard is 4-12 kgf/cm².

In certain embodiments, the thickness of the reinforcement structure is 2-4 mm.

In certain embodiments, the reinforcement structure is shaped as a triangular column.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to an anti-collision packing object that can be placed in a case, and includes at least one base portion and at least one elastic composite structure including at least one main body and at least one reinforcement structure. The at least one main body is made of a low-density foam material having a density lower than 30 kg/m³ and arranged therein with the at least one reinforcement structure that is made of a paper material, a plastic material, and a softwood material, etc., so that the anti-collision packing object can provide proper protection to a product without needing excessive cushioning space.

In certain embodiments, the base portion is made of a paper material.

In certain embodiments, the base portion is made of a foam material.

In certain embodiments, the elastic composite structure can be placed between the case and the base portion.

These and other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the embodiment taken in conjunction with the following drawings and their captions, although variations and modifications therein may be affected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a product and an anti-collision packing object according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the product and the anti-collision packing object according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the product and the anti-collision packing object being placed into a case according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4A is an exploded view of an elastic composite structure used in a vertical compression test according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of a low-density foam material used in a vertical compression test according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the elastic composite structure being placed between two pressing plates according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is more particularly described in the following examples that are intended as illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Like numbers in the drawings indicate like components throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes plural reference, and the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on”. Titles or subtitles can be used herein for the convenience of a reader, which shall have no influence on the scope of the present disclosure.

The terms used herein generally have their ordinary meanings in the art. In the case of conflict, the present document, including any definitions given herein, will prevail. The same thing can be expressed in more than one way. Alternative language and synonyms can be used for any term(s) discussed herein, and no special significance is to be placed upon whether a term is elaborated or discussed herein. A recital of one or more synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use of examples anywhere in this specification including examples of any terms is illustrative only, and in no way limits the scope and meaning of the present disclosure or of any exemplified term. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to various embodiments given herein. The numbering terms such as “first”, “second” or “third”, etc. can be used to describe various components, parts or the like, and the directional terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “right”, “left”, etc., can be used to describe the direction of the components, parts or the like, which are for distinguishing one component/part from another one, and distinguishing one direction of one component/part from another one only, and are not intended to, nor should be construed to impose any substantive limitations on the components, parts or the like or the directions thereof, or be relevant to the sequence in which the components/parts are to be assembled or disposed in practical application.

As used herein, the term “substantially” or “approximately” refers to, for example, a value, or an average of values, in an acceptable deviation range of a particular value recognized or decided by a person of ordinary skill in the art, taking into account any specific quantity of errors related to the measurement of the value that may resulted from limitations of a measurement system or device. For example, “substantially” may indicate that the value is within, for example, ±5%, ±3%, ±1%, ±0.5% or ±0.1%, or one or more standard deviations, of the particular value.

The present disclosure provides an elastic composite structure having a low-density foam material and at least one reinforcement structure, and an anti-collision packing object including the same. To facilitate description, the front side of the components of the elastic composite structure or of the anti-collision packing object is defined as facing the lower right corner of FIG. 1, the rear side as facing the upper left corner of FIG. 1, the right side as facing the upper right corner of FIG. 1, and the left side as facing the lower left corner of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the elastic composite structure 1 according to certain embodiments of the present disclosure includes at least one main body 11 and at least one reinforcement structure 12. The main body 11 can be made of a low-density foam material and can have a density lower than 30 kg/m³. The main body 11 can be shaped as an elongated column and formed with two openings 110 in the front side. The openings 110 can be triangular and extend toward the rear side of and penetrate the main body 11.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the at least one reinforcement structure 12 can be made of a paper material (e.g., corrugated paperboard), a plastic material (e.g., polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), etc.), a softwood material, etc. In certain embodiments, the at least one reinforcement structure 12 is made of a paper material by way of example. When the at least one reinforcement structure 12 is made of corrugated paperboard, the bursting strength of each reinforcement structure 12 may be, but is not limited to, 4-12 kgf/cm², and the thickness of each reinforcement structure 12 may be, but is not limited to, 2-4 mm. Each reinforcement structure 12 may be rolled or folded into a columnar shape or formed as a narrow plate and then placed in the main body 11 by being inserted into a corresponding opening 110. In certain embodiments, and by way of example only, at least one reinforcement structure 12 is shaped as a triangular column and matches the shape of a corresponding opening 110. Moreover, before the at least one reinforcement structure 12 is placed into the opening 110, a heating procedure may be performed on the opening 110 in order to strengthen the wall of the opening 110, making it easier to mount the at least one reinforcement structure 12 into the main body 11. Once the elastic composite structure 1 is formed by providing the main body 11 (which is made of a low-density foam material) with the at least one reinforcement structure 12 (which is made of a paper material), the structure formed by the low-density foam material is reinforced; as a result, the elastic composite structure 1 has higher vertical compressive strength and can provide better cushioning and support than conventional counterparts. The elastic composite structure 1 also has a lower cost than a similar structure made of a high-density foam material.

In terms of practical use, it is the corners of the main body 11 that are relatively prone to collision. In certain embodiments, therefore, with continued reference to FIG. 1, at least one opening 110 is located adjacent to a corner of the main body 11. For example, the upper left opening 110 in FIG. 1 that is located in the front side is adjacent to the upper left corner of the main body 11, and the lower left opening 110 in FIG. 1 that is located in the front side is adjacent to the lower left corner of the main body 11. Accordingly, the location of the at least one reinforcement structure 12 also contributes to reinforcing the walls of the low-density foam material structure, thereby preventing the corners of the main body 11 from collapsing under an external force. In certain embodiments, however, the shape of the main body 11 as well as the number, shape, and positions of the openings 110 and whether the main body 11 is penetrated by the openings 110 can be adjusted according to practical needs.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 2 in conjunction with FIG. 1, the elastic composite structure 1 can be a component of an anti-collision packing object 2. The anti-collision packing object 2 can include at least one base portion 21 and the elastic composite structure 1. The at least one base portion 21 can be made of a paper material or a foam material and serve mainly to secure and protect a product 31 (e.g., an electronic device). In certain embodiments, the side of the base portion 21 that faces the product 31 is concavely provided with a receiving groove 210 so that a portion of the product 31 can extend into and be secured in the receiving groove 210 as shown in FIG. 2. The elastic composite structure 1 can be located on the other side of the base portion 21 (i.e., the side facing away from the product 31) and be adjacent to the left or right side of the base portion 21 (i.e., adjacent to the corners of the base portion 21). When the base portion 21 is made of a foam material, the base portion 21 and the main body 11 may be separate components or integrally formed as a single unit.

Referring to FIG. 3 in conjunction with FIG. 1, the anti-collision packing object 2 can be placed into a case 33 along with the product 31, with the elastic composite structure 1 lying between the base portion 21 and an inner side of the case 33, i.e., the elastic composite structure 1 is provided on the side of the base portion 21 that faces the inner side of the case 33. In certain embodiments, however, the elastic composite structure 1 may be located at any position on the base portion 21 to meet practical needs, the goal being to protect the product 31. With the structural strength of the main bod(ies) 11 effectively increased by the at least one reinforcement structure 12, the anti-collision packing object 2 including the elastic composite structure 1 and the base portion(s) 21 does not require a large cushioning space and can be used instead of a conventional packing object made of a high-density foam material, thereby reducing the volume of the required packing material while providing adequate protection for the product 31. Moreover, as low-density foam materials and paper materials are relatively easy to obtain and are relatively low-cost, the anti-collision packing object 2 can be manufactured conveniently.

A series of vertical compression tests conducted on the elastic composite structure 1 show that the elastic composite structure 1 indeed has relatively high compressive strength. The test structures used in the compression tests are of the following four configurations:

First Test Structure

Referring to FIG. 4A, the main body 11 has a density of 20 kg/m³ and is a rectangular block whose length, width, and height are 330 mm, 300 mm, and 50 mm respectively. The main body 11 is formed with a plurality of openings 110 mounted therein with reinforcement structures 12. The reinforcement structures 12 are made of 3 mm-thick corrugated paperboard whose bursting strength is not higher than 10 kgf/cm². Each reinforcement structure 12 is in the shape of a triangular tube. The cross section of each reinforcement structure 12 has a longest side M1 having a length of 27 mm and a center-line length M2 of 21 mm, and the height M3 of each reinforcement structure 12 is 45 mm. Referring to FIG. 5, the main body 11 together with the reinforcement structures 12 mounted therein is placed between the two pressing plates P1 and P2 of a compression test machine, wherein the two pressing plates P1 and P2 can be displaced toward each other to add pressure to, and thereby cause different collapsed amounts of, the main body 11. The test results are presented in Table 1 as follows.

TABLE 1 Collapsed Compressive amount strength Main body 11 1 cm 1,089 kgf (20 kg/m³) with 2 cm 1,442 kgf reinforcement 3 cm 2,143 kgf structures 12

Second Test Structure

Referring to FIG. 4A, the main body 11 has a density of 30 kg/m³ and is a rectangular block whose length, width, and height are 330 mm, 300 mm, and 50 mm respectively. The main body 11 is formed with a plurality of openings 110 mounted therein with reinforcement structures 12. The reinforcement structures 12 are made of 3 mm-thick corrugated paperboard whose bursting strength is not higher than 10 kgf/cm². Each reinforcement structure 12 is in the shape of a triangular tube. The cross section of each reinforcement structure 12 has a longest side Ml having a length of 27 mm and a center-line length M2 of 21 mm, and the height M3 of each reinforcement structure 12 is 45 mm. Referring to FIG. 5, the main body 11 together with the reinforcement structures 12 mounted therein is placed between the two pressing plates P1 and P2 of a compression test machine, wherein the two pressing plates P1 and P2 can be displaced toward each other to add pressure to, and thereby cause different collapsed amounts of, the main body 11. The test results are presented in Table 2 as follows.

TABLE 2 Collapsed Compressive amount strength Main body 11 1 cm 1,307 kgf (30 kg/m³) with 2 cm 1,483 kgf reinforcement 3 cm 2,278 kgf structures 12

Third Test Structure

Referring to FIG. 4B, the test structure includes only a main body 11 having a density of 20 kg/m³ and being a rectangular block whose length, width, and height are 330 mm, 300 mm, and 50 mm respectively, without openings 110 being formed thereon. Referring to FIG. 5, the main body 11 is placed between the two pressing plates P1 and P2 of a compression test machine, wherein the two pressing plates P1 and P2 can be displaced toward each other to add pressure to, and thereby cause different collapsed amounts of, the main body 11. The test results are presented in Table 3 as follows.

TABLE 3 Collapsed Compressive amount strength Main body 11 1 cm 256 kgf (20 kg/m³) 2 cm 658 kgf 3 cm 1,347 kgf  

Fourth Test Structure

Referring to FIG. 4B, the test structure includes only a main body 11 having a density of 30 kg/m³ and being a rectangular block whose length, width, and height are 330 mm, 300 mm, and 50 mm respectively, without openings 110 being formed thereon. Referring to FIG. 5, the main body 11 is placed between the two pressing plates P1 and P2 of a compression test machine, wherein the two pressing plates P1 and P2 can be displaced toward each other to add pressure to, and thereby cause different collapsed amounts of, the main body 11. The test results are presented in Table 4 as follows.

TABLE 4 Collapsed Compressive amount strength Main body 11 1 cm 362 kgf (30 kg/m³) 2 cm 719 kgf 3 cm 1,425 kgf  

It can be known from the foregoing test results that the elastic composite structure 1 according to the present disclosure has evidently higher vertical compressive strength than the low-density foam materials used without the reinforcement structures 12 and does not require a large cushioning space. Therefore, when the packing box to be used is required to comply with the volume standards of transported goods, the elastic composite structure 1 can provide adequate protection in a limited space. The elastic composite structure 1 also allows the overall packing cost to be much lower than that when only a high-density foam material is used. It is expected that the elastic composite structure 1 will be favored by businesses and general consumers alike.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosure has been presented only for the purposes of illustration and description and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the disclosure and their practical application so as to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the disclosure and various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from its spirit and scope. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An elastic composite structure, comprising: at least one main body formed with at least one opening and made of a low-density foam material having a density lower than 30 kg/m³; and at least one reinforcement structure made of a material including at least one of a paper material, a plastic material and a softwood material, in a columnar shape or formed as a plate, and configured to be inserted into the opening to be placed in the main body.
 2. The elastic composite structure according to claim 1, wherein the opening is adjacent to a corner of the main body.
 3. The elastic composite structure according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcement structure is made of corrugated paperboard.
 4. The elastic composite structure according to claim 3, wherein a bursting strength of the corrugated paperboard is 4-12 kgf/cm².
 5. The elastic composite structure according to claim 3, wherein a thickness of the reinforcement structure is 2-4 mm.
 6. The elastic composite structure according to claim 1, wherein the reinforcement structure is shaped as a triangular column.
 7. An anti-collision packing object configured to be placed in a case and including at least one base portion and the elastic composite structure according to claim 1 that is disposed on the base portion.
 8. The anti-collision packing object according to claim 7, wherein the base portion is made of a paper material.
 9. The anti-collision packing object according to claim 7, wherein the base portion is made of a foam material.
 10. The anti-collision packing object according to claim 7, wherein the elastic composite structure is configured to be placed between the case and the base portion. 